Announcing the release of Fedora 23 Alpha!

Fedora 23 Alpha Release Announcement
====================================
The Fedora 23 Alpha is here, right on schedule for our planned
October final release. Download the prerelease from our Get Fedora
site:
* Get Fedora 23 Alpha Workstation:
<https://getfedora.org/en/workstation/prerelease/>
* Get Fedora 23 Alpha Server:
<https://getfedora.org/en/server/prerelease/>
* Get Fedora 23 Alpha Cloud:
<https://getfedora.org/en/cloud/prerelease/>
* Get Fedora 23 Alpha Spins:
<https://spins.fedoraproject.org/prerelease>
What is the Alpha release?
--------------------------
The Alpha release contains all the exciting features of Fedora 23's
editions in a form that anyone can help test. This testing, guided
by the Fedora QA team, helps us target and identify bugs. When
these bugs are fixed, we make a Beta release available. A Beta
release is code-complete and bears a very strong resemblance to the
third and final release. The final release of Fedora 23 is expected
in October.
We need your help to make Fedora 23 the best release yet, so please
take some time to download and try out the Alpha and make sure the
things that are important to you are working. If you find a bug,
please report it – every bug you uncover is a chance to improve the
experience for millions of Fedora users worldwide.
Together, we can make Fedora rock-solid. We have a culture of
coordinating new features and pushing fixes upstream as much as
feasible, and your feedback will help improve not only Fedora but
Linux and free software on the whole.
* https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/23/Schedule
* https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/How_to_file_a_bug_report
Fedora-Wide Changes
-------------------
Fedora 23 includes a number of changes that will improve all of the
editions. For example, Fedora 23 is making use of compiler flags to
help improve security by "hardening" the binaries against memory
corruption vulnerabilities, buffer overflows, and so on. This is a
"behind the scenes" change that most users won't notice through
normal use of a Fedora edition, but should help provide additional
system security.
Likewise, Fedora 23 has disabled SSL3 and RC4 by default due to
known vulnerabilities in the protocols. This means all applications
that use GNUTLS and OpenSSL libraries have had the SSL3 protocol
and RC4 cipher disabled.
Fedora 23 Alpha also includes support for Unicode 8.0, which
includes new emojis, and improvements in sorting Unicode text and
processing non-ASCII URLs.
Other Notable Changes in the Alpha
----------------------------------
While there's a lot going on under the hood, desktop users are also
going to find Fedora 23 Alpha pretty exciting for all the obvious
goodness coming to the desktop. The easiest way to experience the
preview of these technologies is to download and try the Fedora 23
Alpha Workstation edition.
Naturally, GNOME is getting an upgrade, with Fedora 23 containing a
preview of the upcoming GNOME 3.18 release, which is easier to use
than ever. There are also many enhancements on the way, such as
improvements to Wayland toward making it the default graphical
server in a future release; support for ambient backlight drivers
for a more responsive display on laptops; and changes to the
Software application so it can update system firmware, and be
smarter about metered Internet connections.
Users that are trying to get a little work done on Fedora will be
happy to see LibreOffice 5 in Fedora 23, which includes a lot of
new features and improvements: style previews in the sidebar,
Word-compatible text highlighting, built-in image crop, UI for data
bars in Calc, support for Time-Stamp Protocol in PDF export,
support for Adobe Swatch Exchange color palettes, import of Apple
Pages files, improved support for HiDPI screens, and significantly
improved support for MS Office formats.
Spins
-----
Fedora "spins" are desktops or package sets for Fedora that provide
a different experience than the standard Fedora Workstation
edition. For instance, the Fedora KDE and Fedora Xfce spins provide
popular alternatives to GNOME for Fedora users who enjoy the KDE or
Xfce experience.
There's a new spin in town for Fedora 23. Want a classic take on a
modern desktop? If so, the Cinnamon spin may just be what you're
hoping to find. Fedora 23 includes a spin that tries to emulate the
GNOME 2 experience using GNOME 3 shell.
Issues and Details
------------------
This is an Alpha release. As such, we expect that you may encounter
bugs or missing features. To report issues encountered during
testing, contact the Fedora QA team via the mailing list or in
#fedora-qa on freenode.
As testing progresses, common issues are tracked on the Common F23
Bugs page. For tips on reporting a bug effectively, read "how to
file a bug report."
* https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Common_F23_bugs
* https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/How_to_file_a_bug_report
Release Schedule
----------------
The full release schedule is available on the Fedora wiki. The
current schedule calls for a beta release towards the end of
September, and the final release scheduled towards the end of
October.
These dates are subject to change, pending any major bugs or issues
found during the development process.
* https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/23/Schedule
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